I just reminded my wife to immediately pull over and shut down the car if she sees those warning lights. :D

Smoke is warning enough that you should stop. The warning lights go on the moment the car senses trouble even before the smoke comes on. Pull over and get the car towed then replace the belt.

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minotaurfightstore

I can't tell you the number of times I have glanced over as I'm passing someone and see a bright red CEL glowing on their dash.
Maybe they feel that gas and oil every now and then is enough to keep the car running.

I mentioned this in another thread. Gates recommends changing their belts if 6 years old. I changed my drive belt at 30k. 60k is a long time running a drive belt. I say don't wait that long. A OEM belt is only $25.

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Do these belts have a shelf life? My friend gave me one a while ago and I have no idea how old it is. It has never been installed.

From Porsche's publications, they seem to recommend drive belt replacement at the 6 yr mark. I've been going by mileage, but it's over 6 yrs for me now, so maybe I should think about replacement. I knew a Boxster owner whom on a whim decided to just keep his original belt on until it snapped to see how long it would really last.... it lasted until 92K or something like that IIRC, and he had a spare belt in his car, so he was not stranded for long.

The serpentine belt is not expensive, and should be considered a wear item. Because they can both leave you stranded, and result in engine damage, we replace them any time we the engine cover off a customer's car.

Good luck with that! I usually get "oh by the way there has been a little red light on the car dash for the last few days!"

I'm being hopeful! :D

I got a call from the road from my wife saying the check engine light was on steadily.
I figured no biggie, I'll check it out when I can.
Turns out it was the little red oil can. :eek:
By the time I checked the car over, she'd been driving down 3 quarts of oil for four days.
Surprisingly it still ran, but it had torn the rings to hell and had next to no compression.
An expensive lesson in the colour of dashboard warning lights